In honor of the fifth anniversary of Gail Eichelberger’s Wildflower Wednesday meme, I want to share some of the wildflowers I grow in Oklahoma. Over the past five years, my garden has leaned closer and closer to a wildflower pollinator haven. Whenever I must remove a rose because of Rose Rosette Virus, I tend to plant a grass or wildflower in its place. The garden seems happier that way. It doesn’t mean I’ve given up on tough roses yet though.
Featured above is yellow Baptisia sphaerocarpa. I have two or three different yellow baptisias, a white one, two blue ones, and even B. australis x B. alba ‘Purple Smoke,’ a seedling from the North Carolina Botanical Garden according to the Missouri Botanical Garden. They should know. In my mid-spring garden, baptisias really shine, but don’t try to move them about. Being prairie natives, they have tap roots. Move them, and they will sulk at best, and die at worst. You’re forewarned.
Also, in the mid-spring garden is Packera obovata, f/k/a Senecio obovatus–another victim of taxonomic name change roulette. Although golden ragwort can be aggressive in a wet year, it’s just about the most beautiful thing I grow in spring. Looking at this photo, I think I should spread it about in the garden some more. It takes full sun or partial shade.
With this next one, I’m cheating a little. Joe pye weed is a wildflower, but I grow the dwarf version, Eutrochium dubium ‘Little Joe,’ a selection from the Conard Pyle Co. I grow it because the larger native would be too large for my garden beds. This one is large enough to sit in the center of a bed anyway. ‘Little Joe’ has plenty of nectar so I think it counts as a wildflower in the truest sense.
Another plant I grow that was selected from a native wildflower is Boltonia asteroides ‘Pink Beauty.’ The native wildflower ranges from purple to white. Boltonia needs to be cut back at least once in June so it doesn’t flop, and even then, you may need to stake it. I do. I grow the pink version because I love its bright shade.
Even though Gail and I live several states apart, we grow many of the same wildflowers. This always surprises me. My soil is alkaline. Hers is neutral. She has clay and limestone. I have clay and red sandstone. Of course, some of her wildflowers that won’t thrive here, but many do.
Physostegia virginiana, obedient plant, false dragonhead, is a native Gail loves, and I hate. In her garden, it colonizes beautifully. Here, it is a thug of the worst kind. I would get rid of it, but I can’t. I’ve decided I must bear with it in spite of its thuggish ways, so I pull out handfuls every spring. Obedient plant has a square stem which means it’s part of the mint family. That should tell you a bit more about its behavior.
Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii, hummingbird shrub, is native to west and central Texas, but it’s hardy to at least my Zone 7a garden, which sometimes thinks it’s Zone 6b. I love this shrub, and yes, hummingbirds love it too. It is slow to leaf out in spring, but well worth the wait. It grows about 5′ x 4′ here.
I can’t write a wildflower post without mentioning ‘Annabelle,’ the easiest hydrangea I know. She even beats out H. paniculata varieties, although I grow several. Such a beauty, and a pollinator magnet.
Another thuggy native is mountain mint, but I confined it with railroad ties in a corner of a partially shaded bed. There are many mountain mint varieties. I think mine is common mountain mint. I bought it years ago from a nursery at the Ponca City Herb Festival.
I keep it because pollinators love it. Plus, it’s white, and it lights up a shady spot, although it doesn’t look shady in the photo below. It does get morning sun and is shady all afternoon.
Why grow wildflowers? Well, they are interesting, diverse and acclimated to your environmental conditions. They often need less water and fertilizer making your life easier in your little garden plot. Plus, they’re beautiful, and if you want pollinators, wildflowers bring them in.
American wisteria, W. frutescens, is a great native vine. Bumblebees can’t get enough of it. I have native wisteria planted on two arbors where I lost roses. Crossvine, Bignonia capreolata, is another native vine that should be planted more often. I planted one last year so I don’t have good photos of it yet. I do have one more spot that needs a native vine. What do you think I should plant there?
St. John’s wort, Hypericum spp., is a great shrub. I don’t know if mine is H. prolificum or H. frondosum. I think it’s the shrubby St. John’s wort. Maybe someone can tell me?
I do know it’s easy to grow, and bumblebees love it. St. John’s wort blooms in spring, and afterward has this great gray-green foliage. Mine is in partial shade, but I think it would be good in sun too.
Below is Phlox x ‘Minnie Pearl.’ If I understand things correctly, this phlox is thought to be a naturally occurring hybrid of P. maculata and P. glaberrima. It was found by Karen Partlow on a roadside in Kemper, Mississippi. I guess, sometimes, a plant can be a wildflower even if it’s a hybrid. Pollinators, both insect and hummingbird, like it, and so do I. It is completely disease resistant, and I grow it in full, hot sun. You can find it online from Plant Delights Nursery. I bought mine from Bustani Plant Farm a couple of years ago. In growth habit, ‘Minnie Pearl’ reminds me of P. x ‘Wanda’ which I bought at Bustani also.
You can see from the photos above that wildflowers often have simple flower structures which make them easier for pollinators to access. Wildflowers often have more nectar than fancy hybrids too–another good reason to grow them.
I have so many more wildflower–I haven’t even touched the non-asters yet–but this post is too long and probably boring you. Today’s high is 50F, but temperatures plunge again into the teens tomorrow. Our weekend forecast has snow, freezing rain, sleet and regular rain–all on separate days. We shall see what actually happens.
Congratulations to my dear friend, Gail, on all of the wildflower posts she’s celebrated over the last five years, and a special “thank you” to her for encouraging all of us to grow more wildflowers for our pollinators and ourselves.
I grow several of the same wildflowers here in the Northeast, Dee. I don’t have ‘Annabelle’ though. On my wishlist now. P. x
What a pleasure your blog is to read and look at. A pure delight. Thanks for sharing your corner of the world with all of us.
Why thank you so much Rebecca! That made my day.
Hi Dee, I love your garden, too, and was not bored at all! I love that yellow baptisia! I have several blue ones, and a white one that hasn’t bloomed yet. I had obedient plant for awhile, and when it started spreading, I decided to pull it all out. It took a couple seasons, but I’m pretty sure it’s gone. Yes, it is fun to see which plants we have in common. There are some native to your parts as well as Nebraska, where I live.
Hi Sue! I’m so glad I didn’t bore you. I’m always afraid I’ve put too many photos. I love photos. I have three different yellow baptisias. The species is quite bright. So is ‘Screaming Yellow.’ ‘Carolina Moonlight’ is much more subtle. Now, that I’ve thought about it, that’s ‘Carolina Moonlight’ in the top photo. As for native, Oklahoma has only a few flowers only native here so I’m just considering anything in the U.S. native. Our prairies have many similar flowers. I wish I could see miles and mile of undisturbed prairie. Oh wait…I could go to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve again. Hugs from snowy and cold Oklahoma.
Dee I’m in Blanchard and wanted to ask you a few quick ?’s please. My soil is solid clay and I lost several thousand dollars worth of plants last year when I was stuck down the road at our RV park vs being at the farm babying my new plants. My hubby thinks they just didn’t get enough water but my instincts tell me that water isn’t the only issue but that the soil sucks and the plants aren’t getting any nutrients. When I lived in Bethany for years I became a master at getting everything to grow but out here I’m being given a run for my money. I have plenty of space and am so ready to look at something pretty besides red dirt. I’m working on composting and when I plant I’ve been filling some of the holes with peat moss and compost. Any idea why they haven’t been working or what I can do to help my soil before I plant this year. My budget is blown and I’m starting from scratch and the hubby is limiting me to seeds this year and maybe a few sale plants.
Valeria, I can hear your pain in your words. There is nothing more frustrating that dealing with heavy clay no matter where you live. Okay, if I lived in Blanchard, I would first, before I planted anything else, work on that soil. In fact, I would buy some good soil and burm up my beds so that they would drain. Your plants have such a hard time growing under difficult conditions. After I burmed up the soil, I would use soaker hoses to make the water more accessible to the plants and save water too. I used timers and soaker hoses for years, and I bought soil at first. By only adding compost and peat moss to selected holes, you’re treating your new plants to a wonderful soil, but then they hit that hardpan clay and give up. Also, I would build some sort of fencing to get rid of the wind. We have such terrible wind in Oklahoma. I hope this helps.
Dee this is great. Thanks.
Your post, and Gail’s make me feel a little guilty about having so many exotics. Then I remember my Phlox, the Rudbeckias, Echinacea, my cross vine, my own Annabelle – then I don’t feel so bad.
Oh Les, your climate is so great for exotics. I have plenty of tropicals myself. Nothing likes my Oklahoma summer better than tropical plants. When I first wrote this post, I was thinking I didn’t have all that many natives either. Not until I went back through photos. I’m grateful for everything that grows.
You have a really lovely selection of wildflowers. I am particularly taken with your plant combinations.
I have plenty of Obedient Plant – and rip it out to compost each Spring – too much to pot up and do I really want to give and keep on giving it someone? But I fall in love with it all over again each Fall – my hummingbirds do, too. I would love to grow our native wisteria but not hardy enough for my garden zone. I have planted trumpet vine – I can’t get enough of its blooms – so big and tropical for my Northern zone – I would recommend to you – or honeysuckle. Coral honeysuckle has bloomed for me into December! I also planted Clematis Virginiana – it has almost completely covered the Northside of our workshop/garage. It was loaded with bees last Autumn but strangely I didn’t seem to see any of its billowy seed heads. This year I will be on the lookout! I so love all your wildflower choices – the yellow Baptisias are stunning. I grow the BIG Joe Pye in a SMALL garden – but I love feeling like I walk through the jungle ha ha.
What a sweet comment Kathy. See, some of those plants don’t grow as aggressively where you live because it’s so cold there in winter. I can’t grow trumpet vine. It’s invasive here, but I can grow crossvine instead. Such a beautiful plant. I do have a coral honeysuckle. I love, love, love it.
This is such a breath of fresh air in the cold and gray northeast. Thanks for sharing and your wildflowers are all beautiful.
Thank you so much Kathryn. We all need a little extra sunshine to get us through winter.
Seeing all of these beautiful flowers makes me want to get out and start planting. Of course I must wait for the snow to melt. UGH… I didn’t know Annabelle was a native. No wonder she is so tough…and beautiful.
Yes, she’s native to Illinois if I remember right. Isn’t that grand? Just one of the best shrubs I have. I’m so sick of snow, ice and cold. It’s tiresome.
Your garden is so beautiful. I am keeping notes. I am starting from scratch on a farm in southwest Kansas. I am sure you probably get more moisture than we do.
I hope you post more on this. I am working on some new beds and hope to see lots of bees and butterflies.
Hi Peggy, I post mostly about flowers and such. I doubt if I get anymore rain that you do. We’ve been in drought for so long. I do water with drip irrigation. That really helps. I promise, plant a few wildflowers with simple structures, and you’ll see plenty of butterflies and bees. Don’t forget cottage flowers from seed either. They are grand too.
Your garden has me wishing for spring and summer! We have many of the same plants. For a long time, I thought “native” meant “weedy”. Boy was I wrong. I love my natives.
Ha! Sometimes, weedy and wildflower should be in the same sentence. I love them too. I miss my gardens. Writing this post was therapeutic for me too. I am sick to death of winter.
Your gardens are beautiful! You have so many wonderful flowers…..it will be great when the earth thaws out and everything comes back to life!
Sally, about the earth thawing out, I couldn’t agree more. Thank you for your kind words.
What a great collection of wildflowers to toast Gail’s meme! I think I need to add St. John’s Wort–it’s such a cheery bloomer! It’s quite common in natural environments near my home. I recently added Boltonia asteroides to my garden. It’s taking a bit of time to fill in, but I have a feeling it will be one of those plants that sleeps, then creeps, then leaps! I added it for late-season pollinators. Happy Wildflower Wednesday!
Beth, it really is quite cheery. It took Boltonia three years to really grow in my garden too. I bet it will do the same in yours.
Dee I love that you replace your roses with wildflowers….I replace flowers as well with natives and we grow many of the same ones….what a treat to see them in your gorgeous garden.
Thank you so much Donna. I guess I need to replace them all with something. Ha!
Obedient plant was one of my dad’s favorites. He had a perfect spot for it surrounded by patio blocks. Love the pink boltonia. Really like your Minnie Pearl. I think the flower heads are fuller than my David. Great post.
Hi Marna, yes, concrete blocks might be the ticket with obedient plant. It really is very pretty. ‘Minnie Pearl’ is a different genus of phlox and grows much shorter than ‘David.’ If you decided to plant it, you probably want it closer to the front of the border.
I have a love/hate relationship with Obedient Plant, too. I think part of this is due to how much space one has. My garden area where most of the wildflowers live is small, so I don’t appreciate its aggressive ways. But it is easy to pull out unwanted seedlings in the spring, and I do appreciate its blooms in the fall. Thanks for some great suggestions, Dee; the pink Boltonia and the Hypericum are two plants I’d love to add to my garden. And I’ve got to admit ‘Minnie Pearl’ looks downright beautiful, even as an image of a hat with a dangling price tag comes to mind:)
Yes Rose, the name is unfortunate. Haha.
A beautiful review of wildflowers!
Thank you very much Lea.
Your garden is always such a treat, the colors and the textures are so healing…I just recently found the Missouri Botanical Garden as a source of information and now just swear by their website. If you have a question it is a great place to start.
Thank you so much Charlie. That you think my garden is healing is so touching. I know it heals my soul. I love MOBOT’s website. So much help, as is the Lady Banks Johnson Wildflower Center. Great info.
I love your garden! I remember when I visited, too many years ago, that your Annabelle was the belle of the pollinator ball. You are so right, I do adore False Dargonhead and tolerate it’s colonizing behavior. Happy Wildflower Wednesday. xogail
Thank you very much Gail. I can’t wait to see your garden one day.